30/08/2026
Did someone say reunion? 🧑⚕️🩺💜 Our very first Whanganui nursing graduates recently came together to celebrate their 20-year reunion, reconnecting, reminiscing, and reflecting on the decades since graduation.
A group of UCOL's first ever nursing graduates gather to celebrate
Over twenty years ago, Whanganui UCOL started the nursing programme, providing a pathway to a much-needed occupation. A group from the first cohort of 40 students, of whom 28 qualified, and their tutors gathered on Friday at the UCOL campus to be acknowledged by UCOL staff, celebrate the milestone, and connect.
Deb Mudgway, co-organiser of the event alongside Lauren Moody, spoke to the group, saying, “It's hard to believe that more than 20 years have passed since we began. We were feeling very nervous and excited coming to that first day.
“During those three years of study, we forged strong relationships; we supported each other through challenges, studying, shared experiences, successes, and we were together professionally and personally.
“We also remember those who wished to attend but were unable to be here. So, we celebrate with them in mind as well.”
Those gathered spoke of the challenges of juggling young families; trainee nurses lost their family homes to floods, babies were born, and the support from cohorts, tutors, and head tutor Lesley was always there, encouraging them never to give up. Others said it was the best thing they had ever done, and it changed their lives forever.
Lesley Baylis, now in her 70s, was there to celebrate with ‘her’ nurses. Leslie served as the longtime Programme Leader and Nurse Educator in charge of nursing and enrolled nursing courses at UCOL Whanganui, leading the local programme through high pass rates and graduation milestones.
Lesley told those gathered, “Those first few weeks, I don't know who was more scared, you or me. Because I used to hang on to that bloomin' computer thing at the front and shake. But I am really, really proud of the journey that we made together.”
Lesley eventually returned to nursing, working alongside many of those she had taught, saying,
“What a wonderful opportunity we have in such a privileged position to share with people, many times, in their weakest moments, and to be at their sides and support them. And I'm so proud of all of you and all the different pathways that you've travelled on, from mental health to education to GP practice to flying doctors.”
Lesley also explained that Leonard Fritz, the director of nursing at Wanganui Hospital at the time, was instrumental in having the programme in Whanganui. Paul McElroy, who was the chief executive of UCOL, believed that the trainees could travel to Palmerston North.
Leonard understood, according to Leslie, that Whanganui had a great, untapped population that would benefit from the programme, but they couldn't travel because of commitments to family and children.
Lesley closed her speech with, “Bless him, he fought for that programme.”
The cohort of 28 developed careers across a wide spectrum of nursing: primary health care, including nurse practitioners, practice nursing and practice management, public health nursing and district nursing, acute services including emergency department, critical care, acute stroke unit, medical and surgical nursing; mental health, including acute mental health and forensic nursing; aged residential care and assessment and nurse education and workforce development.
Over two decades on, the Whanganui UCOL nursing programme is in great health, with Emma Watson, Academic Portfolio Manager -Nursing, saying, “We've just had to cap for the very first time. We have a full year and a mid-year intake.”
Now, most students are school leavers, unlike the typically older first cohort, who, if not for their courage and determination and those who supported them, the current programme may not be where it is today.
Photo: The cohort of graduates with tutors and UCOL staff at the UCOL celebration.
